Ethan Oakley

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

Weight:
133
Class:
Redshirt Junior
Hometown:
Trinity, N.C.
High School:
Wheatmore

2024-25: Competed at 133 pounds during first season as a Tar Heel • Earned 22 wins during the season • Made Carolina debut with three victories and the 133-pound title at the Southeast Open (11/2) • Opened the dual portion of the schedule with back-to-back wins versus Drexel and Navy (11/9) • Defeated No. 11 Jacob Van Dee of Nebraska by decision (11/15) • Earned a win over Lock Haven at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals in Nashville (12/21) • Finished third at Southern Scuffle with five wins during the tournament (1/4-1/5) • Went 6-0 in ACC duals • Defeated Dillon Campbell of Virginia Tech (1/10) and Duke's Raymond Adams (1/17) to begin the conference dual schedule • Was victorious over No. 12 Kai Orine of NC State in sudden victory (1/31) • Defeated Pitt's Tyler Chappell by decision (2/7) • Earned two-straight ranked dual wins versus No. 32 Gable Porter of Virginia (2/14) and No. 6 Tyler Knox of Stanford (2/21) • Ended the regular season with a major decision against Oregon State's Gage Singleton (2/23) • Represented the Tar Heels at the 2025 ACC Championships at Duke (3/9) • Earned two wins at the conference tournament, finishing third-place at 133 pounds • Collected the No. 12 seed for the 2025 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia • Went 1-2 at the national tournament, defeating No. 28 Colton Camacho of Edinboro • Named to the All-ACC Academic Team

2023-24 (Appalachian State): All-SoCon and SoCon champion Went 28-9 record, including a 12-1 mark in duals (6-1 in SoCon duals) • Opened NCAAs with 8-7 decision against No. 12 Sam Latona of Virginia Tech before losing 11-5 to Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin • Won 8-2 against Lock Haven’s Gable Strickland before suffering 6-0 loss to Bucknell’s Kurt Phipps • Two ranked wins during 3-0 run in SoCon Championship, with a last-minute takedown and rideout in a 5-4 semifinal win vs. Blake Boarman before winning 5-4 vs. Campbell’s Domenic Zaccone on a takedown with one second left • Won against Zaccone in their dual matchup, overcoming a 7-1 deficit in a 14-8 decision • Had 17-0 career record in duals before losing by fall in improbable fashion vs. Chattanooga — Oakley led 6-2 in the second period and was in on another shot when he got caught underneath Boarman • Eighth at Cliff Keen Invitational with one top-15 win and a pair of wins against previous NCAA qualifiers.

2022-23 (Appalachian State): All-SoCon at 133 • Went 21-13 with one win at the NCAA Championships • Intermat Wresting's SoCon Freshman of the Year • Won a 5-3 decision against North Dakota State's McGwire Midkiff in a pigtail match in Tulsa before facing top-seeded Roman Bravo-Young and finishing 1-2 in Tulsa • Top seed reached 2023 SoCon final before dropping a 4-3 decision in the final and a 6-3 decision in the true second place match against a pair of ranked opponents • Was extremely close to scoring before time ran out in 4-3 finals loss to Brayden Palmer • Went 9-0 in duals and 7-0 in SoCon duals • Moved into starting role after a former SoCon champ and NCAA qualifier, Sean Carter, suffered a season-ending knee injury against Virginia Tech on Jan. 13 • In consecutive matches, beat top-25 opponents from Chattanooga (5-2 decision thanks to a tiebreaking takedown with 18 seconds left) and Campbell (3-1 decision in Sudden Victory thanks to an OT takedown) • Also won duals against The Citadel (4-3), VMI (major decision), Duke (major decision), Gardner-Webb (8-3), Presbyterian (8-1) and Davidson (6-0) • Fell behind 5-4 in the third period of SoCon semifinal against Gardner-Webb’s Todd Carter before producing a tying escape with 1:13 left, then turning defense into offense to deliver a tiebreaking takedown with 22 seconds remaining • Pinnacle Award winner (given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team) at the 2023 SoCon Championship.

2021-22 (Appalachian State): Went 18-9 unattached during a redshirt season • Took eighth at the Southern Scuffle at 133 pounds • Bounced back from an opening-round loss at the Scuffle to post a five-match winning streak that included an overtime win against Little Rock starter Jaylen Carson and a 6-2 decision against 29th-ranked Jackson Disario of Stanford • Runner-up at the Appalachian Open, with two top-40 wins, including a 5-3 decision against No. 34 Erik Roggie from Virginia • Won a title in the open division at the Mountaineer Invitational.

2020-21 (Appalachian State): Competed in four matches at 133 pounds (two at the App State Individual Quad, two at the Wolfpack Round Robin) • Dropped an 11-8 decision to The Citadel’s Jake Rotunda, the No. 1 seed for the SoCon Championship

Prep/Personal: Ethan Oakley is the son of Rodney and Melinda Oakley • Has two siblings, Megan and Nathan • Brother, Nathan, wrestled at Belmont Abbey • A three-time state champion during prep career

Year	Overall	Dual	ACC	MD	TF	Fall
20-21	0-4	-	-	-	-	-
21-22	18-9	-	-	1	-	1
22-23	21-13	9-0	-	4	-	-
23-24	28-9	12-1	-	4	1	5
24-25	22-7	11-3	6-0	2	-	1
Career	89-42	32-4	6-0	11	1	7